Re-ordering sequence may affect elections budget — INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it has kept the budget for the 2019 general elections consistent with existing realities, but that this may change if the sequence of elections is re-ordered.

The Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who was represented by a National Electoral Commissioner, Professor Okechukwu Ibeanu, said this yesterday in the first quarterly Dialogue Session of 2018 with the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room on the commission’s preparations for the general elections in 2019; as well as the upcoming governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states.

Prof. Ibeanu said while the 2015 elections cost the country in the region of N115-120bn “the commission has done everything possible to keep the budget of the 2019 elections consistent with the existing realities, but this goes back to the question of the finality of the election legal framework because if we are going to do transmission, by law, from the polling unit, that means additional cost.

“If we are going to have additional rounds of elections, this would also mean additional cost. These are some of the issues that tie the electoral legal framework with the budget and planning, and that is why it is important to conclude early with the Act,” he said.

On the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, he said about four million additional registrants had been added to the database, adding that the target of 80 million registered voters by the time the process would be completed could be a reality.

He, however, said INEC was only able to work with a budget of N1.3bn for the registration exercise, while the registration cost was about N233 per each registrant.

The convener of the Situation Room, Clement Nwankwo, said the executive and legislative arms needed to come together and find a meeting point on the Electoral Act without protracting the arguments for and against it. He said the protraction of the passage of the amendment meant that INEC was uncertain in its preparation which was not good for the electoral process.